And the sign on my forehead says...

.... SUCKER!

That's right. Totally and completely let Mark con me into keeping him home from school today.

I knew he was okay to go to school, deep down I really did, but he pulled out all the punches and appealed to my nemesis, Mommy Guilt.. and in the end despite all rational thought I let him stay in the car as we dropped Eric (who developed a sudden headache as we approached the drop off point... yet I made him go to school because I wasn't driving through the carpool line and leaving with ALL of my children.)

Anyway, the fact of the matter is Mark WAS sick over the weekend and stayed home legitimately yesterday. Maybe I spoiled him a little too much so he wanted to stay again today. All I know is he was almost in tears, saying he felt horrible, even though he'd been playing fine all morning.

I told myself it was okay to let him sucker me this way. Besides, he'd hardly eaten anything in the past few days, maybe he was just still feeling weak from that. Maybe this, maybe that, Mommy Guilt, and, and, and... It was all swirling around in my head and I just agreed to let him stay.

The boy is fiiiine. Relaxing, planning his next major event (he wants to make a club and have a picnic. I shouldn't worry though, he'll arrange it ALL.) So, the main question here is did he dupe me or did I do it to myself?

** Sorry for the horrible run on sentences in this post. I know they are there but too tired to fix it.

*** Please send every healthy no more puking thoughts to my house. We are planning to go to Disney World this weekend (my parents are in Orlando this weekend) and sick kids would kind of wreck that. Thanks :)

Further Proof I've Lost My Mind

As if we need more proof. Let me tell you what crazy people do.

Crazy people put off getting a hair cut for a really long time, partly to save money, partly because they keep forgetting to make an appointment.

Crazy people look in the mirror on the day they are going to check out a new playgroup/moms club organization, and lament deeply that they did NOT get a haircut as their hair is now too grown out to look good but not long enough to pull back.

Crazy people get out scissors.

I started out just wanting to even it up a bit. The cut was a bit asymmetrical which was cute and edgy when it was short, but looked kind of dumb at it's current length. Well, somehow that turned into a full fledged haircut.

Surprisingly, I did a pretty good job. Not that I'll do it again... I don't think I'd get that lucky twice.

It's not the best haircut I've had, but it's not the worst either.

Down With the Mouse

You know, the dreaded mouse. The big one that sings and dances and serves pizza and lures your children in with the promise of fun games! and little tickets! and prizes! I never have minded going there. It can get crazy, yes, and crowded. But it has always been worth it to see the looks of pure joy on the kids faces. That is until today.

Today fell right into the category of the mouse is pure evil and I think we might not go back for a very, very long time.

There were at least 5 groups there: daycares, camps, random kids off the street. It was complete mayhem. We ordered the food & got the tokens and let the kids free with 5 tokens each. I only give 5 at a time so they have to come back every few minutes because I have a hard time having them not in my line of vision. So, things were going pretty well. The food got there, which was eaten by some and not by others and then off they went. I tried to eat but even then kept noticing the horrible behavior by these other children. First of all we were approached by at least 5 other children asking us for tokens. I told them they needed to find their mommy. To which they responded by looking at me like I had 5 heads and saying "We're on a fieldtrip." I guess that should have caused me to say "Oh in THAT case HERE, have our tokens." I didn't and they stomped off. Then Eric ran over to me in tears because some little boy knocked him into a game. I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt that it was an accident, but really, watching these kids, I don't even know.

At one point Zack was hiding under the table. I'm not sure why, but I think maybe it was a bit overwhelming for him. In the end, my friend and I walked around the place with all the kids instead of just the smaller ones because it was scary, and easier to maneuver with a mom around.

There were adults with these kids, but you really couldn't tell because they were never around for the bullying, begging, and various other bad behavior.

I could go on, but I won't because, honestly I don't want to relive it. It was bad. I was shaking by the time we left and I think it was just the stress. And in case you think I am just overreacting, there were plenty of other mom's complaining. I even overheard a worker in the prize section say "I'm afraid for my life."

I will say that if any of my children were ever to behave that way in public I would fall over dead right then and there. Really.

Suffice it to say it could be a really, really long time before we return. And at the very least I will be phoning ahead to see if there are any groups of mass proportions there.